In recent weeks, Stainless and I have been discussing the fact that Americans make lousy Christians. We, indeed, have so many freedoms and are so abundantly blessed, that we cannot even begin to comprehend the idea of a sovereign God, setting His own parameters and guidelines for what He accepts and expects.
Now, a number of my readers claim to be atheists or at least, agnostic. PLEASE read no further. This isn't for you. That's another Blog for another day.
But, for you God-fearing, Bible-thumping, gun-toting (American) Christians, please consider this in your daily prayer and meditation: YOU DID NOT ELECT GOD TO BE PRESIDENT OF YOUR RELIGION!
A democracy is NOT what you've signed on to. It IS a monarchy. He IS King!
We bristle at that thought, don't we? We can't wrap our minds around that, can we? It almost sounds distasteful, unfair, rude, unacceptable. This is Murica! God really needs to put His potential laws on a ballot and see if He can get a 51% majority vote before He mandates some really difficult ideas for us to accept, doesn't He?
The Turtle Lady, now deceased, and one of my favorite people of all time used to say, "I've served God all my life....mostly in an advisory capacity!" I think we can all relate to that sentiment. This sweet lady learned late in life and taught me, that God does not need or require my input. He is God. He is King.
When I was a kid, I would often see the bumper sticker that read, "God said it. I believe it. That settles it." For many years, I believed that lie. Most of my christian friends still believe that lie. And that lie had taken us down a very dangerous path.
The truth of the matter is, God said it. That settles it. Whether or not I, you, the preacher, the president or ANYONE else believes it, has NOTHING to do with the equation!
We did not elect God, God. He did not run for office. He does not need our vote or our approval! Sorry! Nobody on this planet wants a vote MORE than me. I JUST DO NOT GET A VOTE! And if I don't, neither do you.
The "vote" is destroying my faith tradition. Many congregations are making major doctrinal changes, directly opposed to clear Biblical teaching, based on a 51% majority. My faith tradition is not the only one struggling in this area. Our freedoms and our deep-seeded need to worship in a democratic Christianity is destroying God's Kingdom.
I shutter and get a little scared when I hear myself or you say, "I know that's what the Bible says, but I just can't bring myself to comprehend, understand, accept, or believe something so archaic and unreasonable."
Dear God, please forgive us of our blessings!
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Monday, October 6, 2014
THE TV KEEPS ROLLING!
I'm not sure what you called it when you were kids. We called it "rolling." Anytime the Horizontal Hold was amok, the TV would roll. It was maddening. And it took a very steady hand to turn the Horizontal Hold knob and get it in just the right place.
The TV also had a Vertical Hold knob. But I do not recall the Vertical Hold ever being amok. Vertically, the TV was fine. Horizontally, it was often a mess.
If you haven't caught the application, then Bless Your Heart. It's been on my mind every day, while experiencing one of the most difficult weeks of my life.
I meditated daily on my Vertical Relationship. I thought about just WHERE do I get my value? Just where does my security come from? And it is becoming abundantly clearer and clearer, that there is nothing in my life more important than my Vertical Relationship (finger points skyward). And when my vertical hold is in place, all the horizontal relationships seem to fall in line.
HOWEVER, when my Vertical Hold is off kilter, all my Horizontal relationships suffer. As soon as I start getting my value and security from a horizontal relationship, my mind moves into a VERY bad neighborhood.
It's much easier to spot it in you. I see you getting your value and security in education, jobs, spouses, kids, grand-kids, bank accounts, houses, recreation, yes even church....the list goes on ad infinitum. I can see it clearly in you. But I fail to see it in me. More often than not, someone close to me has to point it out.
Someone has to pull me aside and say, "Kevin, you're getting your sense of worth out of your horizontal relationships!" Brother, there are dark and dreary days ahead for you!"
So, even though the Vertical Hold was always okay on the TV, it doesn't appear to be that way with me. I need to grab the Vertical Hold button and get it back into place. The Vertical Hold button needs adjusting before I can even think about grabbing the Horizontal Hold and stop this thing from rolling!
The TV also had a Vertical Hold knob. But I do not recall the Vertical Hold ever being amok. Vertically, the TV was fine. Horizontally, it was often a mess.
If you haven't caught the application, then Bless Your Heart. It's been on my mind every day, while experiencing one of the most difficult weeks of my life.
I meditated daily on my Vertical Relationship. I thought about just WHERE do I get my value? Just where does my security come from? And it is becoming abundantly clearer and clearer, that there is nothing in my life more important than my Vertical Relationship (finger points skyward). And when my vertical hold is in place, all the horizontal relationships seem to fall in line.
HOWEVER, when my Vertical Hold is off kilter, all my Horizontal relationships suffer. As soon as I start getting my value and security from a horizontal relationship, my mind moves into a VERY bad neighborhood.
It's much easier to spot it in you. I see you getting your value and security in education, jobs, spouses, kids, grand-kids, bank accounts, houses, recreation, yes even church....the list goes on ad infinitum. I can see it clearly in you. But I fail to see it in me. More often than not, someone close to me has to point it out.
Someone has to pull me aside and say, "Kevin, you're getting your sense of worth out of your horizontal relationships!" Brother, there are dark and dreary days ahead for you!"
So, even though the Vertical Hold was always okay on the TV, it doesn't appear to be that way with me. I need to grab the Vertical Hold button and get it back into place. The Vertical Hold button needs adjusting before I can even think about grabbing the Horizontal Hold and stop this thing from rolling!
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Pert Near A Man of the Cloth
Hours upon hours upon hours of phone conversations and face to face discussions have chased me back to the quiet solitude of the Blog----Cheaper Than Therapy.
It has indeed been a crazy few months. Some of you know. Most of you are unaware. Over the last few months, I've been preaching for a small, local congregation. Stop it! There's no need to LOL and take shots. I've heard all the quips and have even taken a few jabs at myself in the mirror.
The reasons for accepting this challenge are many and some of them are not easily explained. First and foremost, I was ASKED. It REALLY is that simple! I was asked to be of service and I agreed to do it. Nothing more. Nothing less. I spend most of my days in an earnest attempt to do the next, right, apparent thing in front of me. This request seemed to meet that criteria and I took on the task with all the enthusiasm I could muster.
It was not easy. I own a small company and have to work every day. As I rode around in my little truck, I would meditate on possible ideas for Sunday. At some point on Saturday, I would try to get some sort of an outline on the computer. I would always be up by 6 AM on Sunday to finish up what I had obviously not done the day before. After lunch on Sunday, I would sleep ALL afternoon. I found the exercise to be emotionally and physically exhausting.
The congregation rallied around me and was in the process of taking this thing to the next level. Of course, there was one naysayer. But he only opposed me because he wanted the job. We (the congregation and I) were in discussions to fulfill a life-long desire of mine and make me a full time preaching minister. It was SO close it was almost surreal.
I QUIT today. I ended my sermon by saying that it would be my last time to stand behind that pulpit. Teressa was the only one in the room that knew I was going to do it. I am sad. I am disheartened. I'm a little discouraged. But I am NOT bitter. I am grateful. I am thankful. The lessons learned will last a lifetime.
I will close this out by making a few random observations with no apparent logical progression:
1) I owe an amends to EVERY preacher that I have terrorized over the years. I have now had "an apple out of that sack" and I shutter to think of comments that I've made to preachers over the years.
2) Most religious people are very comfortable "playing church" and they don't bristle at alternate suggestions. They don't even hear them to begin with.
3) Even in churches not given to "ceremony," the desire for Clergy is still very prevalent.
4) Evidently, 99% of preachers in the business are making NO practical application of scripture. I would make very simple applications (what this text means at 8 AM on Monday). Even the "lifers" responded like it was ideas they had NEVER heard.
5) Christians are just as "self-centered", often times, even more so than non-Christians. I don't blame them, fault them, or judge them. Bless their hearts! Their denial is SO strong. They truly have no idea that most of their time is spent in useless contemplation of their very own navels.
I grew to love these people and although they started from a position of tolerance, they grew to love me. I will be in prayer for them tonight and in the days ahead.
I was "pert near a Man of the Cloth." In the end, RELIGION got in the way. It's not a new problem. It goes back thousands of years. Sadly, the biggest obstacle standing between us and God is very often NOT sin........it's Religion. May God forgive us!
It has indeed been a crazy few months. Some of you know. Most of you are unaware. Over the last few months, I've been preaching for a small, local congregation. Stop it! There's no need to LOL and take shots. I've heard all the quips and have even taken a few jabs at myself in the mirror.
The reasons for accepting this challenge are many and some of them are not easily explained. First and foremost, I was ASKED. It REALLY is that simple! I was asked to be of service and I agreed to do it. Nothing more. Nothing less. I spend most of my days in an earnest attempt to do the next, right, apparent thing in front of me. This request seemed to meet that criteria and I took on the task with all the enthusiasm I could muster.
It was not easy. I own a small company and have to work every day. As I rode around in my little truck, I would meditate on possible ideas for Sunday. At some point on Saturday, I would try to get some sort of an outline on the computer. I would always be up by 6 AM on Sunday to finish up what I had obviously not done the day before. After lunch on Sunday, I would sleep ALL afternoon. I found the exercise to be emotionally and physically exhausting.
The congregation rallied around me and was in the process of taking this thing to the next level. Of course, there was one naysayer. But he only opposed me because he wanted the job. We (the congregation and I) were in discussions to fulfill a life-long desire of mine and make me a full time preaching minister. It was SO close it was almost surreal.
I QUIT today. I ended my sermon by saying that it would be my last time to stand behind that pulpit. Teressa was the only one in the room that knew I was going to do it. I am sad. I am disheartened. I'm a little discouraged. But I am NOT bitter. I am grateful. I am thankful. The lessons learned will last a lifetime.
I will close this out by making a few random observations with no apparent logical progression:
1) I owe an amends to EVERY preacher that I have terrorized over the years. I have now had "an apple out of that sack" and I shutter to think of comments that I've made to preachers over the years.
2) Most religious people are very comfortable "playing church" and they don't bristle at alternate suggestions. They don't even hear them to begin with.
3) Even in churches not given to "ceremony," the desire for Clergy is still very prevalent.
4) Evidently, 99% of preachers in the business are making NO practical application of scripture. I would make very simple applications (what this text means at 8 AM on Monday). Even the "lifers" responded like it was ideas they had NEVER heard.
5) Christians are just as "self-centered", often times, even more so than non-Christians. I don't blame them, fault them, or judge them. Bless their hearts! Their denial is SO strong. They truly have no idea that most of their time is spent in useless contemplation of their very own navels.
I grew to love these people and although they started from a position of tolerance, they grew to love me. I will be in prayer for them tonight and in the days ahead.
I was "pert near a Man of the Cloth." In the end, RELIGION got in the way. It's not a new problem. It goes back thousands of years. Sadly, the biggest obstacle standing between us and God is very often NOT sin........it's Religion. May God forgive us!
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